NNF Welcomes Newest Board Members

Posted: October 11, 2019

NNF Welcomes our newest board members:

Reese Brown

Reese Brown has been involved with the cross country ski industry since 2001 when he joined SIA as the event director for a learn to snowshoe and cross country ski program called Winter Trails. Shortly thereafter he assumed the title of Nordic Director tasked with working with all the cross country suppliers. During that time, he also photographed events for U.S. Ski & Snowboard and worked with them to provide more editorial and social coverage for the team. In 2015 he became Executive Director of the Cross Country Ski Areas Association, an organization that both promotes cross country skiing and provides industry support to the ski areas.

Ed Finnerty

Ed Finnerty has over three decades involvement with Nordic skiing and events in Lake Placid, New York. He was among those who developed the Nordic programs for the New York Ski Educational Foundation (“NYSEF”) that have produced Olympic athletes in cross country skiing, biathlon, Nordic combined and ski jumping. He served on the NYSEF Board for a number of years.

Finnerty is a past Chair of the USSA Cross Country Competition Committee and was a member of the USSA Board of Directors. He was the Assistant Chief of Competition of the cross country events at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games and associated test events. In Lake Placid he has served as Chief of Competition for several USSA Cross Country National Championships, the 1998 Gold Cup, 2000 Goodwill Games, World Masters Championships and numerous college carnivals.

Finnerty’s community involvement has included service as Board Chair for such organizations as the Adirondack Architectural Heritage (“AARCH”), North Country Community College, Placid Memorial Hospital/Adirondack Medical Centerand the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism (“ROOST”).

Ed Finnerty is the Vice President/General Counsel of Champlain National Bank, an independently owned community bank doing business through the North Country of New York State.

He was inducted into the Lake Placid Hall of Fame in 1998. Finnerty resides in Lake Placid, NY with his wife, Nancie Battaglia, a professional photographer.

Chad Salmela

Chad Salmela is a former US Biathlon Team member who has spent much of his post-competitive career working with and advocating for athletes. He coached two years as an assistant national team coach for the USBT and developed a junior national development team for USBA before taking over as biathlon sport manager for the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics. Salt Lake also was Salmela’s springboard into commentary as a public address and television announcer for biathlon and later cross country and Nordic combined. He continues to work as NBC’s primary color analyst for Nordic sports.

Salmela served eight years as the athlete representative at both USOPC Athletes Advisory Council and US Biathlon board of directors. He was instrumental in helping USBA overhaul their leadership structure and strategy in 2006, was an outspoken proponent of a fledgling USADA in the early 2000s, and has been an advocate for clean sport in general. Salmela has been extensively involved with his local ski club, Duluth XC (DXC) since 2011. In 2018, DXC opened a state-of-the-art Grand Avenue Nordic center in Duluth with 2.5km of snowmaking trail and infrastructure.

Salmela has coached as his primary profession since 2006, acting as the first head coach and architect of the NCAA men’s and women’s Nordic ski team at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, MN. At the college, he transitioned to and currently holds the position of head men’s and women’s cross country and assistant track & field coach in 2016.

National Nordic Foundation Board of Directors

Joey Caterinichio, Chairman

Craig Ward

Billy Demong

Kikkan Randall

Reid Lutter

Yuriy Gusev

Chad Salmela

Ed Finnerty

Reese Brown

Our Mission:

The NNF's mission is to support athletic excellence in developing nordic athletes in the United States.

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